TWGOK: Pandora's Box
by skullcandyklive
Summary: Uzume Hotogi is a freshman beginning her first day at Maijima high school with her friends. That is until she was chased by a Phantasma which had escaped its imprisonment and saved by Pandora's box. Life will never be the same again for Uzume as she balances her life between being a high school student and a Priestess hunting down sealing away the escaped Phantasmas. Starts after
**Welcome to my second attempt at a "The world god only knows" fanfic. Now, I'd like to clarify a few things.**

 **First, I did not abandon my first story attempt. I'm just working out the plot and plot holes and I've recently hit a dead end with it.**

 **Second, This little fanfic is based on an original story of mine on fictionpress. Technically, this isn't a crossover, but I thought that my original story's...mechanics could be used for a fanfic for this fandom so I went ahead and did it.**

 **Third, you don't really need to read it to understand this, but feel free to do so ;)**

 **Fourth, the characters will appear in the next chapter when the goddesses confront...yeah...spoilers...**

 **Fifth, I do not own "The world god only knows" series.**

 **And Sixth, enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 1: Pandora's box**

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 **...**

In the island of dance known as Maijima, the sun was shining down on the houses and buildings as the people began preparing for the day ahead of them, but even so, the temperature was still a bit too cold for one's liking. That's only natural, of course, considering the fact that it was June and the first day of school for quite a lot of students, including a certain freshman who was more than a little excited to get to her new school; Maijima high school.

"Mom, I'm going now" exclaimed a cheerful 15 year old girl with straight white hair that flowed up to her waist, lilac-colored eyes, milky white skin, and an (admittedly) attractive figure and physique as she burst through the gates of her house excitedly.

"Okay, are you sure you haven't forgot anything?" Asked a much older looking woman with purple hair, lilac eyes and milky white skin wearing pink apron with a flower design over her casual clothes, who had peaked from behind the door.

"Nope, I got everything I need" came the response of the younger girl with closed eyes and a bright smile.

"Alright, just be careful on your walk to school okay?" Said the younger girl's mother as she combing her daughter's hair affectionately.

"Mhm." The daughter nodded once before turning towards the route she was planning to take longingly.

The mother chuckled knowingly.

"You're still early, you know?" Said the mother while crossing her arms playfully and pouting. "If you keep insisting on leaving I might start to think that you want to leave me behind"

"Okaa-san!" Whined the younger girl while giving her mother a hug and a smile. "You know that's not true at all, I'm just excited since it's my first day being a high school student after all"

The older chuckled again before smoothing her daughter's hair affectionately. "I know you are, I'm just playing with you, Uzume-chan. Now you better get going, I think your friends want to walk to class with you" said Uzume's mother before ushering her gently to be on her way.

"Hai~" said Uzume cheerfully before making her way to school.

Just another day for the Hotogi household.

...

"hmhmhmhm" Uzume walked happily down the streets while humming to herself. As she was doing so, she couldn't help but reminisce a bit.

She had lived with her mother, Okano, and her younger sister, Ayame, here in Maijima for quite a while now. Their older sister, Hinano, had lived with them before, but moved to Kyoto 2 years ago to attend her university. She had grown up here and because of that she not only had a handful of friends, but also knew the best places to hangout in and more than a few secret hiding places and shortcuts.

"Hey, Uzume!" She was brought out of her reverie by a call from two of her childhood friends who were waving at her from around the corner of the street. She smiled and waved back at them.

Ritsu had a full head of black hair tied into a ponytail that reached her waist with some of it framing the side if her face, golden eyes, and skin that was a shade darker than Uzume's.

Hinata had a head of curled pink hair that flowed down to her shoulders framing the side of her head in fluffs and curls, pink-lilac eyes, and skin that looked to be a bit lighter than Ritsu's.

Needless to say, all three of them were wearing the Maijima high school uniform, the red blazer, the pleated white skirt and the white button down shirt.

"What's up with you? You looked like your head was in the clouds or something." Commented Ritsu with a raised eyebrow to which Uzume only waved her hand dismissively.

"It's nothing, I was just reminiscing that's all" said Uzume with a smile.

"Yeah, I know what you mean" said Hinata in wistful tone as she looked up at the sky distantly. "It feels like only yesterday we were still just playing around in elementary school, just having fun and now all of a sudden were entering high school"

"Whoa Whoa Whoa" said Ritsu while holding her hands up in front of her and backing off slightly. "You're starting to sound like one of those middle-aged housewives who look at their yearbooks" Ritsu said jokingly while hiding her snicker. Uzume couldn't help but giggle slightly at that as Hinata suddenly looked at them with nothing but horror in her face.

"I do not!" She shouted in protest while flailing her arms at us. "You girls are so mean, I was just thinking out loud that's all"

"Hai Hai" dismissed Ritsu while giving her an apology hug before slinging her arms around the other two girls and declaring loudly. "Alright then ladies, let's make our way to a new level of exams, teachers, and tortures!"

"Ritsu!" They both shouted playfully, while the black-haired girl just laughed it off and proceeded to walk down their route happily; looking like the best of friends as they all did so.

Granted, the people of this little who's lived here long enough, would probably know these three girls because they had practically watched them grow up.

Not only that, these three girls were known for being quite the little helpers during their elementary and middle school years. Doing simple errands, such as helping the locals with carrying their baggages and groceries to actively searching for lost pets.

Bottom line is that you'd be hard-pressed to find someone in Maijima who haven't at least heard of these three girls one way or another.

...

The day had progressed rather non-eventfully. They held an orientation for all the freshmen, a morning ceremony, went to their respective classes (all three of them were in the same class 1-B), listened to a few starting introductions by their teachers (they didn't really give them any lectures for now, they just let them spend the period to get to know each other better) they ate their packed-lunch at some nearby park, and classes resumed for the afternoon classes.

It wasn't really the most eventful first day of high school, but that didn't dampen their spirits in the least. It might've been boring they kept in mind that this was only the first day of school and that there are plenty more days to come.

"Man, that was really boring"

At least majority of the trio kept that in mind.

"It was only the first day, there's nothing complain so much about" pointed out Uzume with furrowed eyebrows and a smile

"And besides I think it's nice that out teachers gave us the day to ourselves" Said the cheerful Hinata as she walked with her hands laced behind her back.

"Yeah, I know, it was just pretty boring doing nothing in every class" Ritsu said with her hands behind her back.

True enough, they hadn't really done anything interesting, save for getting to know some of tehir classmates and introducing themselves to some of them and having lunch together in the classroom.

"Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be more interesting, though I think were starting lectures tomorrow" Replied Uzume with a smile.

"Well, at least that's something, I guess"

They continued walking in comfortable silence until something caught Uzume's eye, a bookstore to be more specific.

"Umm...why don't you girls go ahead..." Came the distant reply of Uzume as she looked at the array of books on display. Her friends took one confused look at her, looked at the bookstore, smiled at her knowingly, before nodding and walking away with a goodbye.

Yes, they knew that their friend was more or less a bookworm and they have encountered quite a handful of instances where some book would catch their friend's eye and most of the time they would join her, but when it comes to times like these, they knew it would be better to let her be for two reasons.

One, they knew that it would most likely be more than a while before she's finished.

And two, she understood that they wanted to go home after this kind of day. They liked accompanying her to the bookstores every once in a while but that didn't mean that they liked reading books as much as their friend.

With that out of the way, she entered the bookstore with a gleam in her eyes; looking very excited as shee passed through the glass doors.

...

The moon was already out when she came out of the bookstore with a plastic bag fu of books in hand, but her house was just a short walk away at this point and her mother and sister would understand why she was late. They had grown used to her...habits when she was still an elementary student.

She started walking down the familiar route to her house quietly with a smile on her face. She looked around the streets of Maijima and was really thankful for the lights and the surplus of people, she wasn't scared or anything, it was just reassuring her a bit.

She was about to round the corner to her street, when something resembling a sall earthquake suddenly struck; the shaking was surprisingly subtle to the point where if someone was too busy or too occupied they wouldn't even notice.

Uzume thought about the earthquake for a few seconds and waited for the aftershock, but when nothinh else happened. She started walking again...

Only to freeze in place when she saw the peculiar shapes that were passing through the moon's light. The shapes interrupted the moonlight continously and wherever she looked she could see the shadows passing. She looked up at the moon lit sky.

Only to see several black wraith-like, ethereal and spectre-like figures flying through the night sky and scattering every which way, as if they have just been freed.

She felt like screaming but she couldn't remember how to open her mouth or rather didn't have the will to move in the face of such a disturbing sight. She looked around in a panic and her eyes widened at seeing the locals going about their daily business as if nothing of the sort was happening, it was as if they didn't see the spectres at all.

She rubbed her eyes with her hands, hoping that this was all a hallucination, but when she looked up again the spectres continued to roam in the night sky; scattering every which way.

What was she supposed to do now?

The answer came to her as soon as one of the spectres stopped flying and laid its ominous gray eyes on her.

Run.

She sprinted across the streets of Maijima, running past food stalls and weaving through the crowds as if her life depended on it and for all she knew, it did. She didn't want to run to her house and potentially put her family in danger should the spectre-like creature decide to give chase, which it did, but she also didn't know why she was running towards the nearest shrine in the forest.

Maybe she thought the spectre couldn't fly on holy ground or maybe she thought she would be safe in a place touched by gods and goddesses.

Regardless of what reason she had or what she was thinking at the moment, she couldn't turn back to change directions now because one glance behind her revealed that the spectre-like creature was giving chase and slowly but surely closing in on her.

The creature looked like it was made of black smoke, but it had a weak semblance of a figure amdist that ethereal and wraith-like composition.

Uzume turned her attention back in front of her to watch where she was going. The last thing she wanted was to trip on something or to hit a tree.

She ran up the stairs to the shrine, ignoring the burning sensation in her legs and lungs that was pleading for her to stop and rest. She wanted to comply, but her mind knew that if she did, it would probably be the last thing she'd ever do. She arrived in front of the Shrine and her eyes widened when she saw that the spectre was still giving chase.

Out of options, she ran inside in an attempt to hide from the spectre like creature and hid herself inside some sort of closet.

It was dark. Her breathing was ragged. Her lungs burned. Her hair was standing on end. She was alone. The whole scenario was something she likely would've read in a horror novel, but she never thought she would ever experience something like this in real life.

She felt like crying and whimpering at the whole situation; every second felt like an hour as she anxiously waited and prayed that whatever had been chasing her had decided to give up.

"Pandora..."

Her eyes widened and she clasped her hand on her mouth to stop the scream that was threatening to escape as she heard the creatures raspy voice.

"Pandora..."

The spectre couldn't be referring to her, couldn't it? Then why was it chasing after her? Her questions went unanswered as the spectre continued to call out the name with its raspy old voice. She tried to stop the shivering, she tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart, she tried to stop herself from hyperventialting, but she couldn't the morbid fear stopped any commands she sent to her body as it continued to move as if it had a mind of its own.

All she could do now was wait and pray as the wind carried out the raspy old call to her ears, while the creature continued its search for this Pandora person.

Her entire being suddenly and abruptly froze as the spectre-like creature suddenly passed through the door of the closet with no effort; almost like it had the same substancial consistency of smoke. It stared at Uzume directly in her lilac eyes with its ominous gray ones.

Uzume couldn't feel her body anymore, her mind was screaming at her to move and to run or at the very least scream, but she was too frozen by her own cowardice to even blink as the spectre-like creature reached out its hand towards her. The hands were long and slender; almost like claws and the arm looked strangely withered despite the smoke-like appearance.

Given her situation, Uzume could do nothing more than close her eyes, while still hoping that this wasn't at all real.

She never expected to die in such a way; frozen by her own cowardice.

Against all odds she dared herself to hope.

 _Help me..._

A brilliant flash suddenly shined through her eyelids, even though her eyes were closed she could tell that the flash was extremely intense given the fact that she had to cover her eyes with her hands because the sudden light.

She also felt her body respond to her commands again when a sudden warmth suddenly flooded through her entire being. It wasn't the kind of heat that she would be afraid of it was the type of heat that she would take comfort in.

She wasn't sure but she could've sworn that she heard the somewhat silent scream of the spectre-like creature. The scream came out raspy and old, which eventually lost volume as the light progressed until the sound vanished altogether, almost as if...

Uzume cracked her eye open by an inch and her eyes widened when she saw that the creature was no longer in front of her, taking the creature's place was a red orb which had a smoke-like tail trailing on top that was about the same size as a basketball.

Another thing she noticed was that the closet was no longer as dark as it was before there was a faint white light coming from behind her.

She turned her head to find the source of the glow.

What she found was a medium-sized and ornately-designed white box. It looked a lot like an antique jewelry box with how symmetrically-designed it was. It had no stands whatsoever and some of the white metal curves jutted out from the frame, making it look all the more elegant. What was really eyecatching was the fact that it was encrusted with various gems colored blue, purple, and pink, along with several diamonds and pearl inlaid in the curving designs. On the lid sat a particularly large pink gem surrounded with by various diamonds and pearls.

To say that it was breathtaking would be an understatement.

She inched closer towards the glowing box like a moth to a flame; feeling the warmth flow through her body. The sensation felt similar to her body being submerged in a warm pool of water.

She slid the lid of the box open and was greeted by a glowing white chasm. Light engulfed the entirety of her being as the warmth flooded her body. She closed her eyes in bliss and when she opened them she felt strange to say the least. She felt as if her original clothes weren't on her body.

She looked down at herself and saw her body clad in what could only be described as a white one-piece bikini/plug suit adorned with purple designs that had a hole cut out in the chest area, but her chest was covered enough, thigh high boots with the same texture as spandex and white gloved that stretched pass her elbow; both adorning similar designs as the plugsuit. Her hair had also taken on a pinkish hue while maintaining its length.

Before she could even question her attire change, she felt the strange inkling that she was supposed to place the red orb into the box.

Confusedly she took the orb in her hands, which felt peculiar; it was like holding air but it had a strange weight to it that she couldn't really explain. She hovered it over the glowing chasm of the box and gently, albeit reluctantly removed her hands from underneath the orb.

The orb gently floated down in to the chasm, shrinking as it inched closer to the inside of the box, before vanishing into the glowing chasm.

She placed the lid back on the box, thinking that whatever supernatural power in action here would disappear, but her outfit didn't revert back nor did the glowing cease.

Instead the glowing box rose up into the air and floated in front of her. She blinked confusedly.

"I am Pandora"

As soon as she heard the box talk, tonight's crazy events finally got to Uzume as her vision blurred and she fainted to the floor; unconscious.

...

Her eyes shot open and she sat up abruptly in a sudden jolt. She had one hand on her chest as she sat there for a few minutes, breathing heavily the whole time. She inspected her hair and sighed in relief to see that it was indeed white. She checked her clothes and let out another sigh when she saw her familiar lilac colored pajamas. She looked around her room and couldn't help but smile in relief as she giggled to herself.

"It was all just a dream" she said to herself before looking at the clock on the wall. It was still 6 o'clock. She was still early for school. She stretched her arms happily before standing up from her bed.

As she did so, however, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye, which made her freeze in her tracks almost instantaneously. She turned her head mechanically to her study table, which held some of her things, her bag, her notebook, her phone...

...and an ornately decorated and jewel encrusted white treasure box.

Her shoulders slumped in disbelief and her legs suddenly failed her as she plopped down on her bed, while eying the object incredulously.

"No way...it wasn't a dream" she asked to herself incredulously.

"No it was not. Everything that transpired last night was all too real. You should consider yourself lucky that you found me otherwise one of the phantasma would've gotten you" the box spoke in a voice that sounded like a grown woman which held a tone of being ancient and wise. In a way, she could tell that the voice was much older and wiser than she sounded.

"Wh-who are you and what do you want from me?" Asked the wide-eyed Uzume as she tried to get a grip on her sanity and reality in general.

"As I have said before, my name is Pandora. As for your other question, the answer is simple, _you_ are my priestess"

"Your...what?" She was very well aware of the fact that she was talking to a box, but at this very moment she didn't really care at all, she needed answers and she needed them now.

"You. Are. My. Priestess." The box said slowly and clearly.

"..." Uzume couldn't form any response to that.

"We shall continue this conversation another time, when you have somewhat gotten accustomed to your new status as my priestess, but for now you have educational activities to attend to" Pandora said, but Uzume couldn't really find the words to describe how crazy this all was, let alone the proper though processes to respond.

...

"Uzume-chan, where were you last night, I didn't even see you come through the front door" said a worried Okano as she walked over to her daughter and gave her a hug. Uzume was still a bit dazed by the events that had happened just a few minutes ago.

"I...uh..." Was all Uzume could manage to say in her dazed state. She barely even registered her mother's presence in front of her because her mind was completely focused on attempting to unravel and sort through the cluster of questions she currently had.

"Uzume-chan? Are you feeling okay?" Said her mother as she held her daughter at arm's length and inspecting her warily. "Did something happen?"

As soon as her mother asked that question, she wanted nothing more than to tell her everything that happened to her; to get it all off her chest and to just speak out her concerns.

However, she knew that she couldn't do that, her mother would think that she was losing her mind or hallucinating. She couldn't do that to her own mother, not during the start of her high school years. She'll just have to bear with it for a while now and besides, she'll get her answers soon enough. The box...or rather, Pandora had said that they would talk about things later.

So, Uzume gave her mother the best smile she could manage and shook her head slightly.

"No, Okaa-san, I just got a little side-tracked by this bookstore and lost track of time." She said, which wasn't a complete lie.

Her mother eyed her warily before eventually nodding and going back to preparing breakfast and setting the table. She sighed inwardly, before sitting down on the table.

"By the way, where did you get that expensive-looking treasure box on your study desk" asked her mother nonchalantly, which made Uzume widen her eyes in surprise.

"Oh. That...umm...I just saw it in this old antique shop and bought it for a cheap price, the owner said that the gems and pearls were fake." Said Uzume as she calmed herself down.

"Really?" Her mother looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "They looked genuine to me. Hmm...I guess my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be" she said thoughtfully.

"hmmm" Uzume hummed in response before something occured to her. "Isn't Ayame going to school today?"

"She should be, but she's feeling a little under the weather, so I phoned her homeroom teacher and told her that she wouldn't be coming in today." Came the saddened reply of her mother.

Uzume couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows at that. She looked at the stairs that led up to their rooms and stared at it for quite a while.

Wondering what could've happened to her little sister.

"Is she okay?" She asked aloud.

"Just a case of the first day butterflies mostly, she's been moping around for a while now about not seeing you as much anymore" she said with a sad smile.

"Maybe I should go see her then?" She wondered.

"She locked herself in her room. Honestly, she's never thrown a fit like this since Hinano left" said her mother the last part mostly to herself.

She continued to stare worringly at the stairs conetemplating whether she should go upstairs, but she didn't have to make that decision because her mother replied with

"She'll come around eventually, you know her, she's just a little upset for now, but soon she'll realize that she's being unreasonable"

"Yeah, I guess"

...

Uzume was walking down her usual route to school, she had already texted her best friends and said that she would be a little late so they should go on without her.

The reason she did this was because she wanted a bit of time to sort things out regarding...last night's events, but now she found herself worrying about her little sister Ayame.

Ayame never really liked going out to play with other kids and she rarely went out to go meet with new people. She's what most people would consider as a recluse of sorts. Granted, she did seem more than happy to play with her and their older sister, Hinano, as well as, their mother. Other than the three of them, however, she never Ayame interact with _anyone,_ unless it was absolutely necessary or tentative.

That's when she remembered when their older sister, Hinano, had moved to Kyoto. Ayame had locked herself in her room when that happened and didn't come out for three days. They had just left some food on her doorway until she came out of her own accord. Ayame had been five when that happened and she never saw her little sister so upset before and she never thought that it would happen again.

Until now.

"is that it? Is she...lonely? is she...afraid?" She asked herself in a whisper.

"You seem quite troubled, Priestess. Is something amiss?" She practically tripped by the sudden surprise of seeing the ornate white box float in front of her.

"What are you doing here? Also, stop calling me that, I have a name you know?" Uzume said as she looked around uneasily at the bystanders and passersby.

"I told you that we would continue our previous conversation later, did I not?" 'Pandora' said matter-of-factly.

"Well...yeah, but seeing a treasure box float in mid-air isn't exactly normal, so this isn't really the place to talk" Uzume had grabbed the floating box from its previous position and hid it from view in her arms.

"Worry not, Priestess. Those who are not meant to see or hear me, shall not be able to." Pandora said before floating away from her arms to float in front of her. "Now then shall we continue our earlier conversation. What do you wish to know, Priestess?"

Uzume frowned at being labelled as such, but simplu chose to sigh in acceptance.

"Alright then, what happened last night?" She had numerous questions in her mind right now, but that was the most important one and she had a feeling that this one questiom would answer most of her other questions.

The box floated quietly as they both stood there.

"Are you familiar with Greek Mythology?" The box asked after a long moment of silence.

"Mhm. I've read a few stories in the library before."

"Are you familiar with the story of Pandora's box?" She asked, which prompted Uzume to nod. "Good, then this will be much easier. Tell me, how much do you know?"

"It's about a woman named Pandora who was given a box by Zeus and said that she should never open it no matter what, but out of curiosity she opened it one day and the box unleashed the sealed miseries and evils to plague mankind" Uzume eyed the box carefully and cautiously.

"hmhmhm" the box gave a rueful and knowing chuckle. "That I did, and do you know what was left inside the box?"

"Hope."

"That's correct, Priestess. Simply put, that legend is more than just a fictional story created to explain the poor state that humanity is in" The box said before continuing "That story is me, You now know my name and you know my story, but what you don't know is what happened afterwards"

Uzume raised her eyebrow at that.

"Afterwards? Wasn't that the end of the story?"

The box, Pandora, simply gave a knowing chuckle at the girl. "Yes, it's far more prefered by humanity to pin the blame of their misfortune on another person than it is to take responsibility of said misfortune"

"I'm sorry, what do you mean...?"

"That was not the end, Priestess." Said Pandora in a very distant tone. "After the evils and miseries, the Phantasma as I used to call them, were unleashed to wreak havoc on humanity and do as they please, I took the box in my hands and carressed the sole remaining existence inside, Hope, which gave me the power to correct my mistake by hunting down the Phantasma and sealing them away back inside my box. When the deed was done and each and every one of the Phantasma was sealed into my box once again, I offered my soul to keep the Phantasma in check; to prevent them from escaping. From that moment on, the evils and miseries, the Phantasma, were forever sealed back inside the box, never to be released and to wreak havoc to humanity again. Until last night."

"..." Uzume just kept silent as she listened to the retelling of a very familiar greek legend. She had been so familiar with the story that she couldn't really believe that there was more to it.

It took her a while to get her thoughts together and to process the new information she had just received and when she eventually did, she asked:

"Well if that's true, then why-"

"Like I said before humanity prefers to blame their misfortune and misery on another person, instead of taking action." Pandora said with a sad tone. "They showed much disdain to the person who they believed had caused their misery, yet they did not notice when said person took away the cause of their misery or so I've thought. It did not occur to me that they were the cause of their own miseries and not the phantasma"

"...So, it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy?"

"Exactly. They believed in the idea that the phantasma was causing their miseries so much that when the phantasma was sealed away, it did nothing to ease their miseries and evils, since they believed in the events a bit too much. They even went as far as omitting and turning a blind eye on the last piece of the story" Pandora said with a tone that was on the verge of tears.

"Okay..." Part of Uzume thought that this was beyong belief, but a part of her seemed to believed Pandora's words, as if she had experienced it firsthand. "Assuming that I believe you, what exactly does this have to do with me?"

The box tilted its head to the side. "Isn't it obvious, Priestess? When the box was opened, I used the power of hope and hunted them down to seal them away. Now, the box has been opened again..."

"Wait, you're not expecting _me_ to do what you did, do you?" Exclaimed the incredulous Uzume as she stared at the box with wide eyes and mouth hanging open.

"Of course, I do"

"B-but, I can't I'm just a high school student, and a freshman no less, I-I can't handle t-this d-demon hunting or whatever you call it" said a panicked Uzume, not caring if she was being too loud and that she was most likely looking like a mental patient right now.

"Why not? I have beared witness to you harnessing the power of hope last night, similar to how I have once done so."

Uzume froze as she recalled the events of last night, the flooding warmth that engulfed her body, the sensation of being submerged in warm water, the glowing white light, her sudden wardrobe change...

"Wait, you mean when I suddenly got a wardrobe change?" She asked out loud incredulously.

"Yes, the power of hope dressed you in such attire to protect your body from the aura of the Phantasma." Pandora answered calmly and obliviously.

"Protect me?! I didn't feel protected at all, I felt like I was half-naked!"

"Well, that's only appropriate considering the fact that you'll need to move around a lot and that outfit offers swift mobility and agile movements. It's necessary when you start doing battle with the Phantasma."

"How do you expect to do battle with something like that?!"

"Well, I would have to detect them first before you can do battle with them, of course. It's usually quite easy to spot one of the Phantasma once they reach a certain level of power or if you find the human that they're feeding on" said Pandora clearly oblivious to the girl's incredulousness.

Before their conversation could go anywhere else, Uzume noticed the time and her eyes suddenly widened.

"I'm gonna be late!" She exclaimed before running full tilt to her new school, while Pandora easily kept pace with her.

...

Classes had begun and as they expected, the lectures have started happening today, but Uzume couldn't bring herself to focus on that now, not after the bomb that her box friend, Pandora, just dropped on her; she found herself thinking deeply on the words spoken, trying to decipher any hidden meaning rather than paying attention to the lecture, like she should've been.

Thinking back, all of this seemed completely ridiculous and unbelievable. If it weren't for the fact that she beared witness to everything that she did, then she wouldn't believe any of this either. So she did believe in what Pandora told her, it did explain a lot of things about last night; she was telling the truth about her story.

However, all of that didn't make the concept of _her,_ of all people,facing off against all of those spectre-like creatures, the Phantasma, any less intimidating and frightening. Another thing she wanted ask is why her? Sure, Pandora had told her that she was able to harness the Hope inside the box and that seemed to be reason enough, but...again, why her?

Was it just a lucky(?) encounter? Was it only by chance that she got the power of Hope? Could it have been someone else?

She sighed.

 _Yeah, probably._

She had always given into her cowardice when the occasion presented itself. For instance, when she wanted to check on her sister, but decided to let it be because she was too cowardly to face her, most likely, crying little sister. Even when their older sister, Hinano, left for university she didn't have the courage to ask her to stay. There were also numerous occasions, such as when her friends would invite her to a test of courage, go into a haunted house, or to watch a horror movie, wherein she would just shrink away and politely decline.

If she couldn't muster up the courage to face simple things like that, then how can she bring herself to fight those spectre-like creatures that Pandora was talking about.

"Hotogi-san"

She blinked out of her reveries when she heard her teacher call her name, asking her a question. She stood up and complied with her sensei's request.

Even as she did this, all she was thinking was:

 _I can't do this._

 _..._

The second school day progressed with those thoughts plaguing her mind whenever her attention wasn't occupied; she would only stop thinking such thoughts either when her friends started up a conversation with her or when one of her teachers asked a question for her. Aside from those occasions, she would kept on thinking about what she supposedly had to do.

No matter how she looked at the situation, she clearly couldn't do it.

She was just a normal teenage girl starting her freshmen year with her friends, who was nothing special and a bit of a coward; she wasn't qualified to hunt down these Phantasma spectres.

By the time the school day ended and she had reached her home, it was already night time and she had already come to a conclusion.

She placed Pandora in front of her on the study desk that the box had once placed herself on, when she woke up.

She never did get to know what happened during that night or how she got in bed, but that's not important now.

"Pandora?" The box didn't respond, but she had an inkling that she was listening to her. "I do believe everything that you've told me today, the Phantasma, the ommited part of your story; everything." She started hoping for some sort of response. She waited for quite a while but didn't get anything in return ao she continued.

"And I also believe that I can't...do the same thing you did long ago; I can't do what you're asking me." She said and waited for some sort of response. She only got silence.

"It's just...I don't I can do this. I mean, look at me, I'm just an ordinary teenage girl who loves books. I've never fought before, I've never held a weapon, and I've never even done anything physically demanding before" she continued her reasons with an apologetic smile and with her head looking down towards the ground, as if she couldn't bring herself to face the box anymore out of shame. "Most of all, I'm a coward. If I'm too cowardly to even coax my little sister to go to school, to comfort her and tell her that it's okay or to face anything that requires any form of courage, then how do you expect me to hunt down these so called ancient demons or spectres?"

Silence.

"Maybe it was only by accident, maybe I'm not the one that's meant to do what you did before, maybe-"

"Do you remember how you felt last night?" Asked Pandora in a surprisingly gentle tone.

Uzume was still looking down, but she nodded her head.

How could she ever forget something like that? Even now, she could still remember how the events in crystal clear clarity. How her body froze and refused to obey her brain's commands, how the chilling air crawled up her skin, how the warmth suddenly...engulfed her...

She looked at the box with a seemingly puzzled gaze.

"The spectre that you vanquished last night was the Phantasma of Cowardice, it chased after you in hopes of feeding from your lack of courage, once you fleed, that only gave it all the more motivation to give chase. When it cornered you, that's when it almost fed off your own cowardice, worsening it. Do you remember what happened after that?"

She nodded again, that's when the brilliant flash suddenly filled up the darkness of the closet and a feeling of warmth suddenly flooded her being, engulfing her whole body, allowing her to move again.

"The power of Hope does indeed have the ability to weaken and even destroy the physical form of the Phantasma, as well as, save a victim or a Fantocinni from said Phantasma by flooding the human with its warmth. Having said that, it cannot do so without a Priestess to bear its power. If an ordinary human were to have been in position you were in last night, then they would likely become a Fantocinni of the same Phantasma even if my box was there with them."

"..." Uzume just stayed silent as she listened to the implications of what Pandora was saying.

"In other words, the one chosen to be a Priestess is not at random. Hope will choose the person who can handle its power and protect said person from the Phantasma, as well as, grant its bearer with various abilities to combat the Phantasma and release the Fantocinnis from their grasp." Pandora continued her explanation, before floating right in front of the incredulous and insecure girl's face.

"You are uncertain and you are doubting your capability to bear such a burden, as well as, continue this quest. Rest assured that I once felt the same way when before I decided to embark on the hunt. Have faith, Priestess. In the power of Hope, in me as I guide you through this, and most importantly, in yourself"

She sounded so sure of every word that she spoke; without a shadow of a dount Pandora truly believed that she would be able to do this.

Uncertainty wrapped a knot in her stomach as she tried to understand what she was telling her, weighing her options. If what Pandora said is true, then that means that she would be the only person who could do this, no one else would be able to.

However, knowing that didn't change the fact that she still knew nothing on how to actually and physically fight those spectres. Wasn't there some kind of walkthrough or tutorial?

It's true that she had a tad more confidence having felt and experienced the comforting and protective warmth of Hope, first hand, and knowing that Pandora would be there to guide her, but-

"Priestess, quickly, on your feet!" Pandora suddenly shouted with a tone of urgency that was so abrupt that she complied without a single thought.

"Wh-what is it?" She asked questioningly, feeling a shiver travel down her spine. She had a bad premonition about this. She had never heard Pandora's calm shatter before. That was enough of a giveaway that something was wrong.

"Down the hall, a fantocinni" was all Pandora said, but that was enough of a revelation for her to lose whatever strength she was using to stand up. She fell down on her knees as she realized what Pandora was saying.

Down the hall. It was either her mother or her little sister.

"Pull yourself together, Priestess. Now is not the time to give into your cowardice, if there was ever a time to act, then now is the time, Priestess." Pandora said urgently.

It took a few seconds for Pandora's words to register with her and even longer for her to muster up the strength to pull herself up from the floor. She mechanically walked down the hallway and as she did every second felt like an hour to her as she was plagued by both concern and cowardice; concern for her little sister or mother falling victim to an ancient demon and cowardice for she was facing yet another situation like this, except more dire and running away won't be an option anymore.

Pandora stopped in front of a door to her right. She peaked at the sign that indicated the owner of the room and her heart sank.

It was Ayame's room.

She was just standing in front of the closed door, but she could feel a very familiar coldness emanating from the other side. It was familiar because she had experienced this kind of cold before with her encounter with that Phantasma, save for the fact that this felt slightly colder than that. Also, there was a distinctness to this cold that she couldn't describe...it was different from the cold of last night's encounter.

All of those thoughts circled her mind as her body was suddenly frozen in front of said door. It was the same when she had frozen in the presence of the phantasma from last night. It was almost like the cold was freezing her in place; stopping her.

Her body was suddenly engulfed by a bright light and she felt warmth spread through the entirety of her being, thawing away her frozen state and keeping the cold at bay. She suddenly felt that she could move her body again...and that she wasn't wearing her school uniform anymore...

She looked down at her attire and sure enough it was the same plug-suit like outfit that she had worn in shrine.

"Go inside" said Pandora with her gentle tone as she urged her forward. She looked at the door one more time and suddenly found that she had more courage than she did a second ago. Allowing her to comply as she opened the door, with the knob taking on a glowing light.

Once she opened the door her eyes widened at what she saw.

Ayame's simple room was draped in a relatively thin black miasma that seemed to be the source of the cold that she had felt before from the other side of the door and in the middle of the floor of the room was Ayame.

Ayame looked like a younger version of Uzume same eyes, same skin, same hair color, but with more cherubic features. She was wearing her nightgown as she hugged her knees and looked straight ahead with eyes that looked...empty, than anything else.

She wasn't sure but she could make out a single tendril of miasma trailing from behind the girl's neck and out the window.

"Oh my god..." Was the only words Uzume could form as she stared at the state her sister was in.

"Do not fret, Priestess. The Phantasma has yet to gather enough power from your sister, now's your chance." Urged Pandora as she floated in front of her.

"But..." I don't know what to do. She wanted to say but her voice didn't carry out her words.

"Do not be afraid, I shall guide you, this should be a simple task. First you need to figure out what would've caused this, so that you can figure out how to reach her"

"What caused this?" She asked the floating box before pursing her lips in thought. What could have caused this?

She thought back to some hours ago before the release of the Phantasmas. Ayame hadn't joined her for breakfast, she had locked herself in her room, she didn't interact with other people...

"Loneliness." She found herself saying outloud and looking at Pandora. "is that it?"

"...most likely, it must be the Phantasma of Solitude. You need not worry, for now it can only feed off your sister's feelings of solitide, so this should be simple" Pandora said before urging her to walk forward. "You simply need to fill her heart with Hope and banish the feelings of solitude so that the Phantasma will lose its connection with her."

Uzume took a hesitant step forward, placing one foot inside the room and the shadows seemed to part and shy away from it. She proceeded to stride across the room, the miasma shying aaay from the air that surrounded her like shadows surrounding a light; they couldn't reach her.

Once she reached her sister she kneeled down in front of her and held her shoulders gently while looking at the girl's empty eyes.

"Ayame, can you hear me?" She asked to test the waters a bit.

"..."

"Ayame, you don't need to feel like this, okay?" She started uncertainly. "I know that you must be feeling lonely because you won't be able spend time with me or okaa-san as much as you did before, but I need you to be strong. We're still here with you, we're not going to leave you, you won't be alone"

"..."

"You might be feeling scared to go to school because we won't be there with you, but I promise you it's going to be just fine. You won't be alone there" she tried again feeling her tears well up as her sister still didn't respond.

"..."

"I'm sorry, if I didn't have the courage to do this before; to comfort you when you were feeling all alone. I'm sorry I let this happen to you, but I promise that I won't ever do that again, Ayame. Your Onee-chan will look after you, make sure that you'll never have to be alone again so please...come back..." She whispered in her ear after she had brought in her little sister for a hug and snuggled the little girl in her arms.

She felt her being get warmer and the light that surrounded her get brighter. She felt something warm drop on her shoulder and she felt her sister's arms wrap around her body.

"Onee-chan..." Was what Ayame said as the trail on the back of her neck faded, along with the miasma that surrounded the room, almost as if the light had dispersed them.

Ayame had fallen asleep right then and there in her sister's arms still surrounded by the glow and they could've stayed like that for a long time, if it weren't for Pandora's tangent.

"Priestess, you must act quickly, while the Phantasma is weakened, it is on the rooftop" shouted a stern Pandora. Uzume laid down her sister gently before opening the window and leaping onto the rooftop.

Part of her wondered how she was able to achieve that, but she quickly dimissed it as she caught sight of a familiar figure.

This Phantasma was slightly more substantial and less withered than the one she encountered before, but the overall image was still the same; a black and smoke-like spectre.

It screeched at her and she expected herself to flinch and retreat, but she found herself standing her ground as she stared at the Phantasma, looking like it was preparing to lunge at her.

That's when she realized that she didn't have a weapon.

"Priestess!"

She turned her head halfway and the floating box was already beside her emanating a glowing light before the box's shape seemed mesh together to form a more slender outline.

Once the light died down, she found herself holding a glowing crecent blade attached to a white pole encrusted with various jewels.

Before she could think much more of that, the Phantasma lunged at her clawed arms poised to strike. On instinct she raised the pole blade up.

It felt like cutting air, but Uzume could feel a resistance as the glowing blade sliced through the Phantasma's arm, the creature screeching as it did.

The spectre seemed to be holding the stump where its arm used to be as it staggered in front of Uzume.

She suddenly felt power flood through her as the light shined from her body even brighter, her courage spiked as the glowing blade increased intensity. She held the pole up and blade down in a typical fighting stance and lunged towards the Phantasma, not giving it a chance to react.

"Silver Edge Guillotine!"

She raised the blade upward in a quick, yet powerful slash aimed at the Phantasma's neck. The head flew off and immediately dispersed into smoke, while the rest of its body seemed to convulse every which way as it floated in the air, before slowly dispersing out of existence, leaving behind another red orb with a black smoke surrounding it.

"Well done, Priestess" complimented Pandora, who still a pole blade, as Uzume just smiled. "Now, if you would please." With that Pandora shifted back into becoming a box.

Uzume nodded before taking up the orb and acing it inside the endless chasm if light inside the box, all while thinking:

 _Maybe I can do this._

 _..._

The next day, Ayame had finally left her room and had joined Uzume and their mother for breakfast. During which, Ayame couldn't stop talking about this dream she had of her onee-chan being some kind of magical or superhero who saved her from darkness. Their mother seemed perfectly happy to listen to the story, but Uzume, on the other hand, kept eying the girl worriedly, thinking that she may have remembered what happened last night.

"She won't be able to remember anything." Said Pandora as she floated beside Uzume on their walk to meet her friends.

"How come?"

"It's just an effect of being purged. Hope cleanses the victim of any feelings of the Phantasma, including the memories of it ever being present"

"hmmm...okay then, why did you suddenly turn into a pole blade, last night?" Asked Uzume curiously.

"Remember when you placed the first Phantasma soul inside me?" Pandora asked and Uzume nodded. "Each Phantasma soul has an equivalent weapon form" she said simply.

"Then that means..."

"Yes, I do, indeed, have two weapon forms ready for usage" Pandora answered her question, before venturing on a guess. "since you're asking me all these questions, am I correct in assuming that you will take up the role of my priestess?"

Uzume just smiled.

"You see after last night, I got to thinking, maybe I can do this...I mean you're going to help me, right?"

"Of course, Priestess"

"Plus we can't really let those Phantasmas wreak havoc whenever and wherever they want..." She admitted with a smile before something occured to her. "Oh...yeah...one more thing..."

"hm? What is it, Priestess?"

"Do I ... really have to wear that plug suit outfit whenever I open you or you know activate the power of Hope? Can't I wear something a bit more decent?" There was a hint of pleading in the white-haired girl's voice.

"As I've said before that outfit is the most optimal for combat given its mobility and agility. You have experienced that in yesterday's battle, correct?"

"Well, yeah..." She had to admit that moving was a lot easier in the outfit, but still... "W-what if I'm not in a fight, what if I'm still trying to fill them with hope? Don't you think that outfit would be a bit too...revealing?" She asked desperately as her face reddened.

"Hmmm...I see you point, Priestess. Very well, I shall provide you with a more decent outfit, under the condition that you switch to your 'plugsuit' when you do battle" For a box, Pandora was strangely good at negotiating.

"Oh...okay..." Uzume slumped as she accepted the terms.

With that, the Priestess of Pandora's box began her quest.

...

...

 **Author's note:**

 **For plugsuit reference, google "Neptunia, HDD Nepgear"**

 **For Pandora's voice reference, google "Dota 2 Winter Wyvern responses"**


End file.
